Construction Fatalities Drop in New York City

There has been an upside to the slowdown in construction activity in New York City: Fewer fatal workplace accidents.

City officials reported Thursday that there were only three fatalities at New York building sites in 2009.

That’s down from 19 fatal accidents in 2008 and 12 fatalities in 2007.

The decline may be partly related to a big slowdown in construction due to the soured economy.

But the city’s Buildings Department also credited tougher enforcement of safety rules as officials responded to scandals involving botched inspections and two disasters involving huge construction cranes.

Overall, the number of construction injuries logged by the city rose in 2009, but authorities said that was due mostly to more diligent reporting of accidents.